 
Men's Basketball announces 2008-09 schedule
July 31, 2008 · 2008-09 Men's Basketball schedule AUSTIN, Texas -- A home game against perennial national power UCLA as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series, an appearance in the prestigious EA Sports Maui Invitational, neutral-site contests against Michigan State and Villanova, road games against Wisconsin and Arkansas and the annual trek through the Big 12 Conference highlight the 2008-09 University of Texas basketball schedule released today. Coach Rick Barnes, who enters his 11th year at Texas, and the Longhorns will face at least 10 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season (Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, UCLA, Villanova and Wisconsin). UT returns four starters and nine of its top 10 scorers from last year's team that posted a 31-7 record and advanced to the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament. All 30 regular-season games will be televised, and Texas is slated to make at least 20 appearances on national television. The Horns will be featured at least nine times on ESPN, four times on ESPN2, twice on CBS and twice on ESPNU. In addition, all games at the Maui Invitational will be broadcast by ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. UT will have five conference games aired by the newly-branded, regionally-syndicated Big 12 Network. Formerly presented as being telecast by ESPN Plus, Big 12 Network games will be seen throughout the conference's geographic footprint and beyond. The remaining five contests will be picked up carried on the Longhorn Sports Network, which is administered by UT Athletics' multimedia rights holder IMG College. The affiliate stations for the 10 games carried collectively by the Big 12 Network (formerly ESPN Plus) and the Longhorn Sports Network will be announced at a later date. The Longhorns open the 2008-09 season with back-to-back home dates against Stetson (Nov. 14) and Tulane (Nov. 18). Texas then travels to Hawaii to participate in the EA Sports Maui Invitational (Nov. 24-26). The bracket for the Maui Invitational has not been released yet. In addition to the Horns, this year's eight-team tourney field includes: Alabama, host Chaminade, Indiana, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon and St. Joseph's. Texas returns to Austin to host Rice (Nov. 30). UT welcomes UCLA to the Frank Erwin Center on Thursday, Dec. 4 as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. The Horns then head to historic Madison Square Garden for a matchup against Villanova (Dec. 9). UT hosts in-state foes Texas State (Dec. 13) and Texas Southern (Dec. 16) before visiting Houston's Toyota Center for a neutral-site game against Michigan State (Dec. 20). Texas completes the month of December with a contest at Wisconsin (Dec. 23). The Longhorns open the new year with a home game against Appalachian State (Jan. 2) before concluding their non-conference schedule with a game at former Southwest Conference rival Arkansas (Jan. 6). Texas opens Big 12 Conference play on Saturday, Jan. 10 with a home date against Iowa State. During Big 12 competition, the Longhorns will face South Division foes Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas Tech twice and will play each member of the North Division once. North Division foes set to visit Austin are Iowa State (Jan. 10), Kansas State (Jan. 31) and Missouri (Feb. 4). |
August 20, 2008 9:22 PM
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